Sudbury green group wants $1-million solar farm

Bob Jeffery, vice-president of the SUN Co-operative's board of directors, said the organization's planned solar farm, located near the former Murray Mine site, would resemble the one pictured.

SUN Co-operative, a Sudbury
not-for-profit organization, has made progress over the winter months
toward the construction of a $1-million solar farm on Vale-owned mine
property.

Bob Jeffery, vice-president of the SUN
Co-operative board, said the group has made an application with the
Ontario Power Authority’s (OPA) Feed-in-Tariff (FIT) program, which
offers small green power generators a chance to sell power to the
provincial grid at a guaranteed rate.

“We're waiting for what they call a
determination of eligibility,” Jeffery said.

If the OPA deems the project eligible
for the FIT program, the SUN Co-operative can then secure a contract
for power generation, and contact suppliers to build and install the
needed solar panels.

The FIT program has not been without
its detractors. In 2013, the Fraser Institute released a report
called “Environmental and Economic Consequences of Ontario’s
Green Energy Act” that concluded the FIT program rates help create
excess green energy production – especially from wind generators –
the province must export at a loss.

“Feed-in-Tariff (FIT) rates distort
the energy-supply decision by inducing excess production of unnecessary and costly wind power, then
the Clean Energy Benefit and the large-user subsidy distort the
consumption decision in a partially offsetting way,” the report
said. “These price distortions waste tax revenues and create excess
burdens throughout the economy.”

SUN Co-operative plans to generate 500
kilowatts of energy through the project – or enough electricity to
power 30 homes.

At current FIT program pricing, a
non-rooftop solar project over 10 kilowatts would receive a
guaranteed rate of 28.8 cents per kilowatt hour. As the efficiency of
green technologies has improved, the Ontario Power Authority has
decreased the guaranteed rate of return, meant to encourage more
clean energy production.

But Jeffery said the co-operative is
not deterred by the reduced rate. “If we're not going to make money
we're not going to do it,” he said.

The group initially had plans to lease
around 60 acres of Vale-owned property along Sudbury's Nickel Mine
Road, where former slag pits were reclaimed with soil and sod.

But the co-operative later decided to
downsize to a smaller property, near the former Murray Mine site,
about a few acres in size, which Vale has leased at a “nominal”
fee.

Jeffery said the smaller size will be
sufficient for a 500-kilowatt solar farm, but any expansion would
require more land.

So far, the co-operative has attracted
75 members, who have each paid a $25 fee to be part of the project.

Members are encouraged to invest up to
$1,000 in the venture, with a nine-per-cent return once things are up
and running.

The co-operative has also secured
funding from Sudbury's labour movement, and Bullfrog Power, Canada's
leading green energy provider.

“SUN Co-operative's Vale project is
Bullfrog Builds' first in Northern Ontario and we're excited to be
part of a project that not only changes how the land will be used,
but also provides an example of what is possible for local, clean
power co-ops across Canada,” said Ron Seftel, Bullfrog Power's
senior vice-president of operations, in a release.

If the 500 kilowatt project becomes
profitable, Jeffery said SUN Co-operative would like to expand to a
larger solar farm through the Ontario Power Authority’s upcoming
Large Renewable Procurement program, meant for projects larger than
500 kilowatts.

“The main objective is to increase
the supply of renewable energy,” Jeffery said.

Beyond green energy production, Jeffery
said the co-operative would like to assist other green organizations
in Sudbury with whatever profits it can generate.

SUN Co-operative is affiliated with
reThink Green, an umbrella organization that includes a network of 13
green organizations in Sudbury.

Jeffery said any one of those groups
could benefit if SUN-Co-operative's solar farm is a success.

“It may not be all green energy, but
green and environmentally sustainable activities,” he said.